We know brilliant and very successful nerds; I am looking at the whole package here. CB works at his dad’s business, dad’s checks bounce… Not independent for his age, that is. Wife has to wake up early and have a yard sale because they have to be frugal to afford that anniversary trip. That, too.
As to being nerdy/not nerdy. My problem is, I don’t know how to read his first interview with the police. It can come as “an anxious, introverted person has just found out about his wife’s death, and his reaction is very typical for his group”, or “he is a very bad actor”. If I didn’t suspect high anxiety/introversion, I’d say “a bad actor.” By the same token, for a person scoring highly on anxiety/introversion, this type of reaction would be very normal. Detached, but panicky. So I don’t know what to think.